PARP inhibition attenuates histopathological lesion in ischemia/reperfusion renal mouse model after cold prolonged ischemia.

We test the hypothesis that PARP inhibition can decrease acute tubular necrosis (ATN) and other renal lesions related to prolonged cold ischemia/reperfusion (IR) in kidneys preserved at 4°C in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. Material and Methods. We used 30 male Parp1(+/+) wild-type and 15 male Parp1(0/0) knockout C57BL/6 mice. Fifteen of these wild-type mice were pretreated with 3,4-dihydro-5-[4-(1-piperidinyl)butoxyl]-1(2H)-isoquinolinone (DPQ) at a concentration of 15 mg/kg body weight, used as PARP inhibitor. Subgroups of mice were established (A: IR 45 min/6 h; B: IR + 48 h in UW solution; and C: IR + 48 h in UW solution plus DPQ). We processed samples for morphological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and western-blotting studies. Results. Prolonged cold ischemia time in UW solution increased PARP-1 expression and kidney injury. Preconditioning with PARP inhibitor DPQ plus DPQ supplementation in UW solution decreased PARP-1 nuclear expression in renal tubules and renal damage. Parp1(0/0) knockout mice were more resistant to IR-induced renal lesion. In conclusion, PARP inhibition attenuates ATN and other IR-related renal lesions in mouse kidneys under prolonged cold storage in UW solution. If confirmed, these data suggest that pharmacological manipulation of PARP activity may have salutary effects in cold-stored organs at transplantation.

PARP-1 modulates deferoxamine-induced HIF-1alpha accumulation through the regulation of nitric oxide and oxidative stress.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is a nuclear protein that, once activated by genotoxic agents, modulates the activity of several nuclear proteins including itself. Previous studies have established that PARP-1 inhibition may provide benefit in the treatment of different diseases, particularly those involving a hypoxic situation, in which an increased oxidative and nitrosative stress occurs. One of the most important transcription factors involved in the response to the hypoxic situation is the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1). The activity of HIF-1 is determined by the accumulation of its alpha subunit which is regulated, in part, by oxidative stress (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), both of them highly dependent on PARP-1. Besides, HIF-1alpha can be induced by iron chelators such as deferoxamine (DFO). In this sense, the therapeutical use of DFO to strengthen the post-hypoxic response has recently been proposed. Taking into account the increasing interest and potential clinical applications of PARP inhibition and DFO treatment, we have evaluated the impact of PARP-1 on HIF-1alpha accumulation induced by treatment with DFO. Our results show that, in DFO treated cells, PARP-1 gene deletion or inhibition decreases HIF-1alpha accumulation. This lower HIF-1alpha stabilization is parallel to a decreased inducible NO synthase induction and NO production, a higher response of some antioxidant enzymes (particularly glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase) and a lower ROS level. Taken together, these results suggest that the absence of PARP-1 modulates HIF-1 accumulation by reducing both NO and oxidative stress.

Interaction between ATM and PARP-1 in response to DNA damage and sensitization of ATM deficient cells through PARP inhibition.

ATM and PARP-1 are two of the most important players in the cell's response to DNA damage. PARP-1 and ATM recognize and bound to both single and double strand DNA breaks in response to different triggers. Here we report that ATM and PARP-1 form a molecular complex in vivo in undamaged cells and this association increases after gamma-irradiation. ATM is also modified by PARP-1 during DNA damage. We have also evaluated the impact of PARP-1 absence or inhibition on ATM-kinase activity and have found that while PARP-1 deficient cells display a defective ATM-kinase activity and reduced gamma-H2AX foci formation in response to gamma-irradiation, PARP inhibition on itself is able to activate ATM-kinase. PARP inhibition induced gamma H2AX foci accumulation, in an ATM-dependent manner. Inhibition of PARP also induces DNA double strand breaks which were dependent on the presence of ATM. As consequence ATM deficient cells display an increased sensitivity to PARP inhibition. In summary our results show that while PARP-1 is needed in the response of ATM to gamma irradiation, the inhibition of PARP induces DNA double strand breaks (which are resolved in and ATM-dependent pathway) and activates ATM kinase.

Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli infection by duplex PCR assay based on telomeric sequences.

We used the species specificity and repetitious nature of subtelomeric kinetoplastida sequences to generate a duplex PCR assay for the simultaneous detection of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli in experimentally and naturally infected triatomine (Reduviid) bugs and in infected human subjects. The assay was species specific and was capable of detecting 1/20th of T. cruzi and 1/4th of T. rangeli cell equivalents without complementary hybridization. In addition, the PCR-based assay was robust enough for direct application to difficult biological samples such as Reduviid feces or guts and was capable of recognizing all T. cruzi and T. rangeli strains and lineages. Because the assay primers amplify entirely different target sequences, no reaction interference was observed, facilitating future adaptation of this assay to an automated format.